This document presents the results of an impact study for the "Strengthening Cash Transfers for Access to Finance, Livelihood and Entrepreneurship” project being implemented by CARE International and Platform for Social Protection Zambia with support from the European Union. The study’s main purpose was to assess the progress of SCALE project towards achieving results as outlined in its logical framework including providing recommendations for improving the project. [32 pages] Read More...

Heavy rainfall befell Bangladesh in the last week of June 2015, causing landslides and flash flooding. 29 Upazilas (sub-districts) of the South-Eastern districts of Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban and Chittagong were the worst affected areas as identified by the Department of Disaster Management (DDM) - a Joint Needs Assessment revealed that a total of over 1.8 million people were adversely impacted.

Incessant rainfalls in turn resulted in a depression in the North Bay of Bengal and transformed in to a Cyclonic Storm ‘Komen’ on 30 July 2015, affecting 15 districts situated in the low-lying areas of the coastal belt, offshore islands, and chars. ‘Komen’ led to further heavy to very heavy rainfall across the entire country, and caused inundation in many areas of Southeast Bangladesh, including those which were affected by the initial phase of heavy rainfall. Consequently the lives and livelihoods of a large cross section of people from these areas were severely impacted – JNA and a post-cyclone rapid impact assessment conducted in the most affected districts revealed that the total number of people affected by flash floods and ‘Komen’ stood at 2.6 million in Southern Bangladesh!

The assessments identified Food Security/Supply, Livelihoods, WASH, and Shelter as the immediate needs of the affected people. Humanitarian actors came together to incorporate these needs in to a Joint Response Plan (JRP) aimed at addressing the immediate and emerging adversities facing the most vulnerable and affected communities. The response plan was also endorsed by the key stakeholders including government and donor organizations.

Based on the JRP the National Alliance for Risk Reduction and Response Initiatives (NARRI) consortium undertook a response project in the most affected areas. NARRI responded to the immediate needs of affected communities by providing unconditional cash grants as assistance. CARE Bangladesh led the consortium with Oxfam, Concern Worldwide (CWW), Concern Universal (CU) and Plan International as consortium members, while Handicap International served as technical partner. [4 pages] Read More...

In December 2016, CARE International closed its operations in Sri Lanka and existing projects were transferred to Chrysalis, which was founded by CARE International to continue its work in the country. Chrysalis, having completed the remaining training sessions, analyzed the impact of the P.A.C.E. training program of Phase 1. The impact assessment was carried out by primary and secondary data collection. Primary data collection was by questionnaire surveys, key informant discussions and focus group discussions. Secondary data collection included reviewing of project proposals, progress reports and project data base. [27 pages] Read More...

The CARE ECD program has been operational in the two districts of Funhalouro and Homoine in Inhambane Province since 2013. The program is focused around once-a-week, home visits to vulnerable families by volunteers. This report outlines the results of the impact evaluation (using a control study and qualitative and quantitative data and conducted between 2014 and 2016). The results prove conclusively that impact has been made on caregiver status, child status and the caregiving environment – the pillars of ECD as identified by the Essential Package. The program was funded by The Hilton Foundation. [32 pages] Read More...

The goal of this program is to achieve a peaceful society where women and men are equally empowered to enjoy their human rights. Under this domain which will focus on this issue in Northern Uganda is WEP. Northern Uganda has been engulfed in a protracted conflict for over 20 years and is in a recovery period. Women are usually the most affected and vulnerable sect in this context. Therefore many developmental organizations targeted women as their main beneficiaries to curtail large percentage of those being vulnerable. In the process, they neglected men who are the main bread winners. [29 pages] Read More...

This paper reports the findings from a quasi-experimental impact evaluation of the Safe Motherhood Promotion Project (SMPP) conducted in the Narsingdi district of Bangladesh. SMPP is a Japanese aid- funded technical cooperation project aimed at developing local capacities to tackle maternal and new- born health problems in rural areas. We assessed whether the project interventions, in particular, community-based activities under the Model Union approach, had a favorable impact on women’s access to and knowledge of maternal health care during pregnancy and childbirth. The project comprises a package of interlinked interventions to facilitate safe motherhood practices at primary and secondary care levels. [8 pages] Read More...

CARE International in Uganda has been supporting the implementation of Forest Resources Sector Transparency (FOREST) Programme at National level and in districts of the Albertine Region since 2013. The goal is: “civil society has increased transparency, accountability and responsiveness in forest governance for the benefit of poor Ugandan citizens”. The programme was mainly implemented through six partners and other key stakeholders who are CSOs, the Media, Local Governments, NFA and Ministry of Water and Environment.

This report documents findings from the impact study commissioned by CARE in 2017 to identify and document significant impacts, approaches employed and lessons learned as a result of implementing the FOREST programme as part of CARE’s learning agenda, in order to inform on-going and similar or related interventions in the future.” [50 pages]Read More...

In 2016, CARE International and Chrysalis carried out the P.A.C.E. training program for female workers of the tea plantation sector, in the Hatton and Watawala Regions in Sri Lanka. Sponsored by GAP Inc., the P.A.C.E. program created for female garment workers (FGWs) was scaled down and modified to better suit the schedule and capacity of female plantation workers (FPWs). This training program was conducted as a pilot for the FPWs. CARE’s facilitators and trainers were trained on the P.A.C.E. program by GAP’s P.A.C.E. Master Trainer in Sri Lanka. The conducted P.A.C.E. program consisted of the four core areas of training: Communication, Problem Solving and Decision Making (PSDM), Time and Stress Management (TSM), and Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). The WASH training was carried out by Chrysalis trainers in collaboration with the Estate Medical Officers, Health Officers and volunteers of each individual estate. [27 pages] Read More...

CARE Bangladesh has designed a project titled “Where the Rain Falls (WtRF)”, based on a research, which has been implemented in two sub-districts of Kurigram district in the northwestern Bangladesh with financial support from Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. This study provides an account of the effectiveness of a few measures considered under the project, in order to meet the above-mentioned needs of the smallholder farmers of the two target sub-districts. [63 pages] Read More...